Hinduism: The Anthropology of a Civilization (Oxford India Paperbacks: French Studies in South Asian Culture & Society)

by RichardNice (Translator), Madeleine Biardeau (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1994

  $3.42

  Hinduism, because of its many dimensions, is often regarded as a mixture of various components. However, the archaeological monuments and literary texts discovered over the past few centuries indicate an underlying unity. In this book, Professor Biardeau uses these 'testimonies of Hindu civilization' to bring to light this very unity and to discover what constitutes the 'Hindu way of life'. The most important of these testimonies are of a socio-religious nature and these are reference points for most Hindus. This is why Hindu religion is presented here as intricately connected with the caste system. However, Professor Biardeau states that in spite of this, Hindu religion has been changing and diversifying over time and it is this which gives the religion its unmistakable and enduring character.